Biella, Italy | Cycling Territory scenario | Research project

CYCLING TERRITORY Team 13 Francisco Javier Ramirez Gabriel Paul Cotrau Tran Thanh Hai

Professors: Daniela Ciaffi Michele Cerutti But

Table of content 00.Preface 01.Memory exercise 02.Comparison case 03.Premises 04.Cycling territory in the big picture of Conscious territory scenario 05.Concept – the project 06.Zooming in 07.Strategy | policies 08.Link to eco-touristical scenario (team15) 09.Conclusion

00.Preface We are team 13 – mobility topic, part of group C working on A CONSCIOUS TERRITORY as main scenario. Th e following pages offer the work on th e sub scenario of CYCLING TERRITORY. Our main spatial ambition in terms of urban planning is to provide an infrastructure of bicycle paths that could help communic ation from houses to places of work and the interaction between urban and natural landscape.

In terms of environment sociology, w e aim to reduce th e noic e and air pollution impact of motorized mobility by proposin g local strategies and policies that help cultivate and implement the culture of cycling.

We believe that, th e cycling territory subsc enario could be a strong path link between all the subtopics of group C: edutouristical territor y, ecotouristical territor y, refreshing territory, well- being territory.

team 13

The future is the new present. Depends on how we deliver it.

01. memory exercise

the lost religion Cicli Fiat, 1911

The evidences tell us ther e is a big legacy of th e past in terms of cycling in Italy. Th e h istory says th e first 2 pedals bic ycle appeared in Italy around 1867 and only 1 year later a variety of bic ycles could be seen on th e streets. Most of th em made in the North ern region of Italy: Turin, Monza, Verona, Padua, Milan, Flor ence, Novara. By then italians had fallen in love with bicycles.

Their creativity and the skills of th e factories gave rise to what we can call ''the art of cycling'' in Italy.

Bianchi, 1895

02. case comparison

learning from the North Sustainable cities or regions of the future w ill be ones wh ere transport options oth er than fossil-fuel powered private vehicles are the norm. Bike-frien dly Copenhagen is leading the way.

Copenhagen has set itself th e goal of becoming 'the world's best bic ycle city by 2025'. Achieving this goal is also viewed as integral to the city's health plan, to the environ mental goal of making the city CO2 neutral by 2025, and to enhancing the ''liveability'' of the city.

More than 250,000 people cycle each day to work or educational institutions in th e City of Copenhagen , r epr esentin g a modal share of 38% of all trips. Copenhagen’s plan for achievin g a greater modal share for bicycles includes increasing th e capacity of the cycle tracks to th e city c entre, in order to accommodate an additional 60,000 cyclists by 2025.

The number of the bikes in Copenhagen is already higher than the number of th e cars: 265.700 bikes versus 252.600 cars.

02. case comparison

2 lessons to be learnt

1. Governance A key success factor has been the organisation of urban and transport planning in an integrated and coherent way under a single Technical and Environmental Administration in the city government.

2. Political leadership and commitment The main barrier was the rise of car culture from 1945 to the 80's. Th e challenge was to address this and turn it around. Promoting a culture of cycling and supporting that with significant resourcing and planning commitments has been central to the success of the pro-cycling.

We assume transferable.

that,

both

these

lessons

are

Copenhagen 88.25 km2 Our zone of action 63 km2

02. case comparison

the paradox Due to its location, Danish weath er consists of rain as regular basis year-round, win d blowing ,short summers an d temperatures from – 10 to maximum + 21-22 degrees. The weather situation in Italy is totally the opposite.

Why shouldn't c ycling become a real part of citizens' life ?

02. case comparison

cycling cycling It is well known all over the world that, Denmark c onsistently ranks at the top of global happiness, well-being and quality of life scales.

With these premises, the financial status shouldn't be an issue wh en it comes to buy / use a car.

It is clear that, these people use the bicycle ever y day as primary source of transp ortation ( no matter th e weather condition ), because they have cultivated and implemented a strong culture of cycling in ter ms of city's population h ealth , reducing air and noise pollution, environment frien dly an d joy of simple things.

We understand that, the behavior is the first aspect that must be educated. The attitude, th e mentality towards cycling must be changed.

a matter of behaviour poverty symbol

03. premises

Premises | Biella 1. Terrestrial premise The area of action r efers to 4 strategically village – points all around Biella.

The measured points proves the existing of short distances.

2. Social premise Decreasin g number of population in the whole area.

Lack of communication and marketing Lack of new identity 3. Premises of success Diversity in ter ms of cultural and industrial values Geographical position Unique resources: air and water, landscape Low price of properties Global approach of the entire area.

4. The memory exercise The histor ical legacy in terms of art of cycling and skills of designin g and producing bicycles.

04. cycling territory in the big picture

cycling territory in the big picture of conscious territory scenario Specific conscious map - in order to visualize how th e subtopic of cycling territory har monize and in th e same time intersect all the oth er subscenarios . Th e legend clearly describes all the intersected topics on th e horizontal of each level of human ( city ) mind. Our concept uses th e vertical connections of all the levels as key points of the proposal.

As a conclusion of the previous pages we can definitly name as startin g point: th e memory of cycling.

Tourism diversity Sense of belongings The weather Industrial areas Healthy life Short distances Potential to cultivate new culture

04. cycling territory in the big picture

THE WORK FLOW DIAGRAM

05. concept

concept – global BICYCLE PATHS (RECREATIONAL) BICYCLE PATHS (FUNCTIONAL)

Global approach on the whole area is th e perspective that provides n ew possibilities to improve and create coherence an d relations between the different existing districts, villages and actors.

Lynch elements point of view. Beside th e fact that, th e whole concept is part of on e of the 5 elements of Lynch ( paths ), it also generates th e link between the other 4: edges, districts, nodes, landmarks.

The project proposes an infrastructure consisting of 2 type of paths: 1.pink path (40km): from home to places of work - providing the fastest routes towards all the industrial areas.

2.yellow path (90km): recreational and tourism path providin g the routes through nature and along the river.

Important mention: th e bike stops follow the bus stops – in order to link th e proposed infrastructure to public transportation system.

06. zooming in

how it works?

The project proposes a diversity of solutions in terms of policies, traffic reglementations, design an d technical approaches.

A specific path from Biella to Verrone is chosen in order to visualize the coherence of the p roposal. Th e complexity of this specific route consists of flat segments n ext to agricultural area, differ ent types of intersections in ter ms of size an d proposed solutions, crowded segments, bus stops, segments n ext to important industrial and residential areas.

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Numbered segments are tak en 1 by 1 in the following slides in order to visualize the approaches.

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06. zooming in

1. NODE bridge | importance This solution facilitates the connection betw een th e 2 type of paths ( recreational and home to plac es of work ) in a crowded zone. In th e same time, th e bridge solution proposes an in-exit ramp on the parkin g spot of an industrial area, which facilitates workers access.

06. zooming in

1. NODE bridge | technical overview

06. zooming in

1. NODE bridge | section

06. zooming in

1. NODE bridge | visualization

06. zooming in

2. CROWDED segment | suspended platform| visualization | technical overview

BIKE STOP

06. zooming in

3. CROWDED residential area | underground passage Crowded residential area located next to the main street. In order to offer safety to the bik ers and in or der to streamline car traffic, the solution c onsists in underground passage.

3D OVERVIEW

06. zooming in

3. CROWDED residential area | underground passages

CC

06. zooming in

4. INDUSTRIAL AREA | underground passage

4. VISUALIZATION | underground passage The exits will be covered with natural plants and vegetation – they will act as natural smoke filters from cars.

06. zooming in

5. BETWEEN VILLAGES | next to agricultural area The path w ill include 2 cycling lanes + on e lane for walking, joggin g etc. Also, the bik e stops will offer the possibility of buyin g refreshments.

06. zooming in

6. RESIDENTIAL AREA | underground passage Extra attention to this intersection because 2 big and important residential ar eas are located on both sides of STR.TROSSI ( SP230).

Due to safety r easons, w e propose underground passages crossing the intersection.

Due to the fact that, next to th e intersectiona bus station is located, we use th is spot in order to vizualize the link of the proposed bike infrastructure to public transp ortation system.

06. zooming in

6. RESIDENTIAL AREA | link to public transportation system | BUS

06. zooming in

link to public transportation | train Accessing PASSERELLA towards th e platfor ms of Biella train station ar e proposed.

Also, in order to have a complete system, dedicated wag ons must be included in train set.

06. zooming in

link to public transportation | train | visualizations

06. zooming in

link to Parco Zumaglini | public space Bicycle path connecting to public space in the city of Biella – Parco Zumaglini.

3D OVERVIEW

06. zooming in

link to Parco Zumaglini In order to facilitate th e flow of bicycle traffic, we propose dedicated angled rubbish bins to be mounted along th e bik e path.

Via Alfonso Lamarmora

06. zooming in

FACILITIES | CYCLIST FOOT SUPPORT FOR TRAFFIC LIGHT INTERSECTIONS Due to the fact that , th e existing traffic light intersections are protected in all the corners with metallic frames, we propose an extra simple element to be mounted on th e existing metallic frames.

Via Bengasi

recreational purpose

06. zooming in

recreational purpose

06. zooming in

07. Strategy | policies

policies We are ad vocating for a long-range strategic plan, but fast results oriented.

How could it work?

In terms of democratic challenge, th e vision involves a global plan from th e scratch and implies the participation of the 3 actors.

The plan is a radical long-term plan and its purpose is to repopulate and revitalize the entire zone b y cultivating and implementing the culture of cycling.

An institution named Cycling Embassy of Biella should be created as department of City Hall and it should have the main role in terms of policy makers.

We imagine Cycling Embassy of Biella as a key player inside the system of public actors defen ding, promoting th e cause and attracting funds.

In the same time, Cyclin g Embassy of Biella would be th e r epr esentative of th e public actors as a binder between all the 3 category of actors: Its role would be to monitorize th e people ''applying for the financial benefits'' mention ed, to monitorize the companies involved in the program and to promote th e bic ycle paths towards the tourism industry.

In order to get fast results, Cycling Embassy institution should propose financial benefits for all th e business men that decide to invest in the area and hire people livin g in th e area.

Design industry

Comune di Biella

UNESCO Banking sector

Cycling Embassy of Biella Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei transporti

Market Aliment ary industry

European Union

Agricult ure sector

Public actors

Citizens and associations

In th e same time the Cycling Embassy public institution should offer some benefits to all the citizens that decide to choose bicycle as primary daily transp ortation source towards the working place.

General Financial benefits for business men: -no taxes on profit in the first 5 years -substantial discount when buying an abandoned space General Financial benefits for citizens: - 25% discount on annual taxes in the first 5 years - substantial discount when buying a property in the region.

General benefits for the owners of the lands that are crossed b y the bicycle paths: - the public actor can buy the land - a cheeper solution would be to propose to the owner of th e land some tax benefits for a specific number of years.

- th e local administration can pay a r ent to the owner.

Conclusion We assume that some democratic solutions can be applied in or der to please th e community an d in or der to progress for the benefit of the whole community.

07. Strategy | policies

policies NEW TRAFFIC LEGISLATION in order to prioritize the circulation of bicycles in intersections.

Both cars in th e image will give priority to bicycles.

Traffic rule inspir ed from Danish traffic reglementations.

Source: Søren Underlien Jensen , Trafitec (2006): Effekter af overkørsler og blå cykelfelter.

We believe this rule could help establish a clear order in terms of priority, could increase cyclist safety an d could work on the people mentality cultivating an d implementing the culture of cycling.

07. Strategy | policies

policies VISUALIZATION OF THE NEW TRAFFIC RULE IN A ROUNDABOUT

Str. Barazzetto

Bird eye view

08.link to team 15

link to eco-touristical scenario ( team 15 ) One of the most important target is to make visible th e connection between our scenario and another scenario of GROUP C. W e see all the oth er scenarios as statical elements, because they refer to buildings or places.

Mobility provides th e conexion infrastructure and proposes th e mobility source.

Our hypothesis r effers to the ecotouristical scenario of team 15. W e focused on one of th eir plac es – RISERVA NATURALE LA BESSA. W e proposed a SERVICE U NIT at th e intersection of our recreational path with their internal reservation bike path.

The SERVICE UNIT is also strategically located between their ''welcoming'' an d ''caterin g'' units.

08.link to team 15

link with eco-touristical scenario (team 15 )

conclusion Our case study is not useful just because clears up some specific situations. We believe that, also because it can inspire the construction of new policies that can tackle the major problems of the community and it can find solutions to them.

The territory of Biella is built around the most important source that sustains the life: th e water. Beside all the craft works or business, which today exist, but tomorrow can disappear, th e real r ichness of the area is given by its natural resources, landscape and people.

It is essential to b reak out some existing mentalities in order to establish the framework for building new agreements and new approaches.